Wednesday, March 30, 2011

I posted the other day about Easter Items that I made last year and today I searched 'Easter Treats' hoping to find something new to make this year to take home for Easter.

I found a number of cute ideas that I thought I would share!

I came across this idea and thought it was a really cute way of displaying your Easter egg shaped sugar cookies. It would look so cute on the Easter table with the other food and would also act as part of the decor (until all the cookies were eaten of course).

This idea looks SOOO Yummy! It is 'Easter Bark' using multiple colours of chocolate swirled together with mini eggs and other Easter treats throw into the bark. Recipe HERE.

This is a cute and simple Idea - Rice Krispies molded into Easter Egg Shapes and then decorated! Recipe HERE.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

She is having a little boy and since her husband and her love fishing I decided to use that as the theme of the shower.

The two actually met at the camping grounds where they grew up on their summer vacations fishing, and their honeymoon was at a lakeside cottage where they fished as well. So hopefully this theme will not only be cute and fun but also meaningful for the couple.

Here are some of my ideas below for those thinking of doing a similar theme!

- DECOR -

Blue, Green and Yellow are the colours for the shower - half of the tables will be blue and half green with yellow streamers for the accent.

I found blue plates and yellow napkins and I found a way to fold napkins to make them look like fish (watch the video below to see how to fold the napkins to look like fish)This way I don't have to use 'tropical fish' napkins (as that is all I was able to find when serching for 'fish napkins') but now they will still fit the theme and be a really cute featuring sitting on everyone's plates.

I just finished making the centerpieces. They are tall vases with pebbles in the bottom (from Dollarama) and I glue ribbon around the top of the vases and tied twine around them as well. I will be putting a goldfish in each of the centerpieces and the green vases will go on the blue tables and the blue vases will go on the green tables.

I am going to try to get burlap to make squares to go underneath the centerpieces on each table.

I found this cute tissue paper confetti at Metro and will sprinkle it around the centerpieces along with a few pebbles sprinkled around as well.

I got a few packs of these 'Bathtub' fish toys from Dollarama to use as decor on the table and might even float one or two in the punch bowl.

I got a magnetic fishing pole and I have a big orange drink bucket that I will fill with water to create a 'Fishing for Advice' game to play at the shower. A few ladies will use the pole to pick up a fish and each colour of fish will have a corresponding question that asks the lady to give 'baby advice' to the new mom.I am also going to be making a banner that will be a fishing rod and then down the line I am going to spell the baby's name, and maybe have a fish on the end of the line as well.The banner will hang above the gift table.

- FOOD -

My friend from Mill Street Cakes will be making the cake/cupcake stand and I came across this cute idea to use sand pails as the tier separators - so she is going to copy this idea when making her stand. The cupcakes will match the colour scheme and will have blue icing and yellow and green fondant fish cutouts on top of each cupcake. She also has come cute ideas for the top of the cake - should turn out SWEET!

I want to make a blue jello in a trifle dish and stick Swedish fish in it to make it look like a pond.

I thought of using sand pails as 'goody dishes' and want to put Goldfish Crackers in one pail and Swedish Fish in the other, then guests can scoop out their goodies using the shovels.

I also thought it would be cute to have a few 'Bait Cans' around with gummy worms coming out of them! I am going to make them by simply using a tin can with the label peeled of it and then use a label or a piece of tape to write 'Bait' or 'Can O' Worms' on them.

I am also going to recomend a 'Blue Punch' so that we can float the bathtub fish in it and make it look like a pond/lake. HERE is a really yummy blue punch recipe.

It would also be really cute to have Fish Shaped Sandwiches (using a cookie cutter to cut them out). You could even use Tuna and Salmon for some of the sandwiches to go along with the theme.

Friday, March 25, 2011

As the weather has been warming up I am getting excited about being able to bike on the awesome trails in the park, along the river and through the city!

However, I have been dreading having to wear a helmet, but I may have found an awesome solution to the classic case of Helmet Hatred!!!

I was just watching TV (The show 'Cash and Cari') and Cari was wearing the cutest helment ever!

So I did some 'research' online and found that the helmet manufacturer of the helmet she was wearing is a company called 'Yakkay' and there are two Toronto location that sell their helmets: Curbside Cycle and 4th Floor Distribution.

They are SO cute - but also carry a hefty price tag ranging from $160-$175. You can even purchase additional 'covers/style' to change the look of your helmet.

Pretty neat - but I was hoping to get a used bike for $50-$75 let alone paying double that for a helmet!!!

So it looks like I will still be wearing a dorky plastic helmet with a purple and pink flame pattern on it and an 'areo-dynamic' shape costing $20.00 from Walmart - for a little while longer at least - Maybe I can ask for a Yakkay helmet for a Birthday/Christmas gift??

Now before you think this post is going to be about the political "Green Party", (and if you know me personally you know I am NOT a political buff at all) rest assured this post IS about HOME Decor and is BIRTHDAY PARTY related.

I am planning a 26th Birthday for my husband that is going to be a backyard family BBQ and I decided to make the theme 'GREEN'!

Since this spring/summer is going to get super busy for me with work, and since all of the outdoor/patio items are already coming out in the stores, I decided to put together my plan and gather my items now so that the party is all ready to go!

Here are some of the things I will be using / making to make the party fun, fresh and GREEN!

- The DECOR -

I got 5 different sized green lanterns at JYSK - I am going to hang them in the trees with the Globe lights from our wedding

I got green and brown bamboo placements from Dollarama

Green Striped Napkins

I am going to make green party flags from scrapbook paper to hang around the deck

I may get balloons and if I do I will get green, brown and white groupings

Straw Flags - I am making my own 'straw flags' with the name of each person at the party on them. Not only does it give their straws/glasses a custom flare, making them feel special, but it also eliminates the need for extra glasses or to wash glasses as everyone will remember which drink/glass is theirs!Mason Jar Glasses - I ordered 1/2 pint mason jar glasses from Candlesandsupplies.com for only .45 cents each! I will sit the straws with the name tag flags in each glass and set them all out on a tray.

A few of my mason jars on a mint green tin tray I got. You could even punch a hole or use a drill bit to make a hole in the top of the mason jar lid to stick the straw through. This would be a great thing to do for a kids party so that they didn't spill their drink.

DIY Party Tray - I made this party tray to match the party's decor - check out my post HERE on how I made the tray.

Green checkered table cloth and green plastic plates (Dollaramma) and a cute green cutlery set and 'Home and Garden' tin to hold the cutlery at Liquidation World

I am going to make a fruit salad out of ALL green Fruits (kiwi, green melons, green grapes and slices of Granny Smith apples)

I am going to have a platter of all green vegetables (Celery, baby cucumbers, green peppers, sugar peas and broccoli)

My Parent got me a retro cotton candy machine for my birthday - and you can use Kool Aid to tint the cotton candy to any colour - so I am doing to make green cotton candy!

I got these cute green and white food covers at Dollarama to cover all the trays.

I got this cute ketchup and mustard BBQ set and these hotdog holders and this outdoor napkin holder from Dollarama to use at the party! It will add to the BBQ theme.

- The CAKE -

My husband does not like Sweets so I am going to make him a 'Watermellon Fruit Cake' - Recipe HERE

I was going to simply give out waffle cone ice cream cones - BUT I came across these adorable BBQ theme cupcakes - So I just might make these for the rest of the guests who DO LIKE SWEETS because they are just too cute!

- Wish List -

I would love to get a couple green plastic Muskoka chairs. My mom got some a few years ago for under $20 from Canadian Tire I believe. So I am hoping there will be more this year!

I found this vintage green 'Hi-Bol' game that I thought would be fun for the party. We could set it up on the deck and people could play while dinner was cooking. It is like 'Skeet Ball' and it just looks so neat!

"Befores" - Images of our home when we bought it

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This Blog is...

- A place to share inspiration for the decoration of the places we call home.

- A place to share the many little DIY projects and crafts that I am inspired to create.

- A space to place tidbits of things that I like, love and dream about.

- A place for family and friends to watch while we make our house into a home.

- A place to reflect on the 'befores' and 'afters'; an online scrapbook of memories and archives of our new home, "Browy" as we like to call it.

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A Little Bit About Myself

I am newly married to a wonderful husband and we love to work on projects in our new house. I love to decorate to make it into the warmest of homes! I am a graphic designer and photographer and thus I get to work from home! I recently graduated with my degree in Drama in Education and Society, a minor in Engligh Literature, and a teaching degree as well for the intermediate/senior level. I Love working with children and youth through drama and art! I am blessed to be able to pursue my passions as my career and to be able to blog about my experiences and projects on ‘The “Browy” Blog’! Wondering what “Browy” means?? It is the nickname that my husband and I gave our home..."Why" you might ask... well when we were house hunting it was hard to keep all of the listings we were considering straight, so when trying to save the listing for our home in my 'favourites' on the computer I meant to type "Brown" as the reference word for the house and instead I typed “Browy”, thus giving our home its forever title! Thanks for checking out my blog! Feel free to leave comments and share your ideas!

bk.ricker@hotmail.com

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I guess this explains why my blog isn't the greatest as my husband always has a full tummy!